Falling
by wolfypuppypiles
Summary: Lance is homesick and his birthday is coming up. The team plan him a surprise while Keith tries to stop thinking about how he feels. Lance just wants Keith to kiss him. (Full fic of the story Keith told Lance in chapter three of 'Six feet under' and part of the same AU as 'It took six years' can be read separate but they're better all together)
1. Chapter 1

Lance had gotten quieter over the past few days and, as the loudest member of team Voltron, it did not go unnoticed.

Training would end and the blue paladin would excuse himself to his room, head ducked and voice quiet. He'd barely made any jokes in three days and with no missions to go on, it was hard not to notice that he didn't seem to want any company lately. Shiro was worried but Hunk only sighed as they watched him leave.

"He's homesick. Especially since it's his birthday in a few days. His family always made a big deal about them and now he's here in space and his parents don't even know he's alive. It's bound to get him down for a little while."

Keith had only been half listening until then, but came over to the small huddle as Pidge squished herself between Shiro and Hunk.

"It's his birthday? Why didn't he just tell us?"

Hunk shrugged, doleful. Lance was his best friend and when he was sad Hunk was sad too.

"He's never really been good at asking for help, and he already thinks he's the weakest member on the team. He misses his mom, that's not really something that makes a person look strong."

Shiro frowned, and crossed his arms.

"He's allowed to miss his family, but he should also know he can tell us when something's wrong."

Pidge pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose as she looked up at the others, voice excited.

"We should do something special for his birthday!"

Hunk's face lit up to match hers as he thought about all the food he could make.

"I'll make a cake! And we can have a big family dinner."

Shiro nodded, liking the idea of a party to cheer Lance up as well as boosting morale for the rest of them.

"We could go back to that space mall and get supplies. We should tell Coran and Allura too."

Pidge started talking excitedly about presents and Keith got worried. What could he do for Lance? They'd been getting along now that they'd been in space together for a while but dealing with his feelings for Lance was hard. He knew he had a crush on the idiot and he didn't know if Lance liked him back. He mentally winced at how childish he sounded and shoved any thoughts of his feelings away.

Hunk was still talking, mentioning things that Lance liked, his hands waving excitedly as he talked.

"He was so excited about the mermaids and they like us now that we saved them from enslavement, maybe we could go visit them again? Or take Lance to somewhere with a beach, he loves water."

Keith's face warmed with a smile, remembering the last time they found a planet with an ocean. Lance had jumped in the purple water without hesitation, laughing as he floated in the waves. God, he was cute when he laughed. Keith frowned as he pushed away the memory. He really had to get a handle on this.

The others eventually pulled Allura and Coran into the conversation, spending at least thirty minutes explaining what birthdays were, before settling into the party planning, while Keith excused himself.

He escaped the noise of the others and went to his room to concentrate on what he was going to get the blue paladin. He only made it half-way to his room before he paused at a door, hearing noises coming from the other side.

It was Lance, that much was obvious, but Keith couldn't figure out what the noises were. He lent closer to the door, hand accidentally pressing it open when he went to lean on the wall. The door slid open and Lance spun around from where he was sitting, back towards Keith, the entire room lit up with stars.

The walls were glowing with soft light as holograms spun planets and stars around the room, the light making the tears on Lance's face more evident. A hologram of earth was spinning in front of him as he sniffed and wiped his face with his sleeve.

"What are you doing? Did you follow me?"

Keith didn't know what to do. Lance was crying and seemed to want to be alone but Keith couldn't just leave him. He stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. He kept his voice quiet, keeping his eyes on the stars so that Lance could pretend he wasn't caught crying.

"No, I saw the lights from under the door. It's so pretty."

Lance seemed to relax and nodded.

"Yeah." His tone was sad and Keith came to sit beside him.

"You're allowed to miss earth. You know, that, right?"

Lance looked at the floor but Keith kept watching that sad frown. He wasn't good at talking to people like Shiro was, but it always seemed easier with Lance. And he'd been more serious lately, making less jokes, and it made it easier to talk to him. The boy shrugged.

"Do you miss earth?"

Keith thought for a moment before he shrugged back.

"I didn't have a family there and I was kicked out of the garrison. I lived alone in a hut in the desert. No one's missing me."

Lance looked up at that. Keith's voice was quiet and relaxed. He'd gotten used to being alone.

"It's better here, with everyone, with a…purpose, I guess. I know what I'm doing now." Keith was watching the hologram of earth and lifted a finger to spin it lazily as Lance watched.

"I do miss it though, but now, going back wouldn't be the same. I'd just be alone again."

Lance nodded and watched the globe spin. The green amidst the blue water, the familiar shapes of countries tugging at his heart as Cuba came to face him. His voice was stronger than before and he found himself talking. Keith's honesty making him feel safe enough to share.

"I love being part of team Voltron, I'm finally a proper pilot and I get to help people while being a total bad-ass." Keith let out a small laugh but watched Lance's face turn somber.

"But my mom hasn't heard from me in months and the garrison probably told her I ditched or flunked out or… she's going to be worried."

Keith looked at the floor. His parents were long gone, he didn't know what Lance was feeling.

He pressed his shoulder against Lance's, just a little, just to let him know he was there. They watched the globe spin until Keith thought of something to say, anything to take that sad look from those beautiful eyes.

"Well, just think about how great it'll be when you go home and you tell her you're a hero."

Lance shook his head a little, a sad smirk on his face.

"I don't know if she'd believe me." Keith knew this was Lance's was of saying he didn't see himself as a hero, as good enough.

Keith shrugged, nonplussed.

"Fine, I'll tell her." His tone was sure and confident and Lance looked over at him. Keith turned to meet his eyes, face unreadable as he watched Lance.

Lance was so awed by the adamant way Keith had called him a hero. Keith believed he was worth that title, even when he didn't himself. There was no pity or humor in his face, he truly believed what he'd said.

Keith wanted to kiss Lance so badly in that moment. The blue of his eyes shining in the soft dark of the room, lit only by the slowly spinning planets around them as the stars glowed against the freckles on his brown skin, his lips parted slightly in surprise.

Lance watched Keith's eyes flicker down to his mouth, face still blank, before he leaned a little closer. Lance took a breath, waiting for him to close the distance between them, before Keith blinked and turned away.

Lance was disappointed but smiled a little as he saw the blush in Keith's cheek's, staring at earth once more. At that moment, Keith being there was enough. He sighed and leaned his head down on the red paladins shoulder, feeling Keith tense before melting into Lance's touch. Lance's hand was resting on the small space of seat between them and Keith blushed further as he lay his own hand next to his, pressing his fingers just close enough to brush against Lances.

They watched the planets spin until late into the night and Lance felt a little less empty when he went to sleep, his dreams were full of dark eyes and red cheeks. He woke up to find his fingers curled to his pillow, looking for someone, unaware that Keith had woke the same.


	2. Chapter 2

Hunk was so excited about cooking for his best friend's birthday that he insisted they go shopping for supplies. So the whole team went back to the space mall and spread out, Hunk and Pidge went together while Allura and Coran went off to find decorations for the strange new earth custom. Shiro and Keith took Lance to wander around, the blue paladin feeling a little better after his talk with Keith.

"Why did we need to come here so urgently? Hunk looked so excited."

Shiro slung an arm around the kids shoulders, unaware of how much it reminded Lance of his older brother. Lance smiled a little at the gesture and Keith watched those eyes shine as Shiro spoke.

"He wants to try out some new recipes and I thought we could all use a little break. Anywhere you wanna go today?"

Lance shrugged and turned to Keith.

"I don't know, maybe we could get a haircut for mullet man?"

Keith snorted and elbowed Lance, as he laughed.

"My hair's fine, what about yours? It's getting pretty long." Lance made a face, because Keith was right. His hair was long enough to fall over his forehead, little tufts curling over his ears. Keith lifted a hand without thinking, smile turning into a blush as he met Lance's eyes. He carefully brushed the hair back behind Lance's ear before dropping his hand. He hadn't even thought about it, and now his mind couldn't stop screaming at him about how embarrassing that had been.

Shiro dropped his hand from Lance's shoulder, trying to hide the way he was smiling at the two blushing boys. Keith looked at the ground, grumpy a himself, while Lance was trying to calm the butterflies in his stomach.

In fact, he was kind of freaking out. Who just goes and does something like that? He can't honestly expect that it wouldn't make Lance melt and feel all stupid and warm.

Shiro quickly found something to distract them.

"Hey look, a pet store. We should check it out maybe they'll have some proper food for Allura's mice. I think it's a pet store? Maybe it's a day care."

Lance and Keith followed Shiro, carefully avoiding eye contact with each other until they got into the store and lance squealed in excitement.

"Yuppers!" He ran towards a crate full of giant puppy looking things, picking one up and holding it against his chest as it licked his face. It was huge, half the size of Lance, and heavy enough that he needed both arms to hold it up. He laughed and cuddled the creature to him as Shiro looked into the crate.

"Are these like that pet you tried to steal from the galra base?"

The yupper gave a small 'yup' before lance could and Shiro laughed, picking one up himself.

Lance rubbed his nose against the yupper he was holding, smiling as its tail wagged.

"They just say that all the time, watch. Do you love me?"

"Yup"

"Am I the best sharp shooter in the galaxy?"

"Yup"

"Is Keith a butthead?"

Keith rolled his eyes as the yupper replied its usual sentiment, but he was smiling and Lance looked happy for the first time in a few days. Keith wandered over to another crate, this one full of purple cat looking creatures.

They crowded around the side of the cage where Keith stood, their big eyes staring at him and he smiled at the tiny creatures. They weren't much bigger than his hands and he carefully reached down to pick one up. They had huge fluffy ears like the galra and soft round tummies.

He pulled the little one to his chest and cradled it as it purred and lay in its back in his arms like a baby.

Lance came over and cooed.

"Aww is that your galra baby? It's so cute. Where are your purple ears?"

Lance went to ruffle his hair but Keith pushed his hand away with a laugh.

"I have normal ears, Lance. And I think this is a cat."

Lance rubbed a finger on the kitten's tummy as it curled its paws around his hand and made noises.

"Your half galra, does that mean your half cat? Are you gonna purr if I pat you."

"Don't you dare" Lance laughed again and Keith couldn't help but smile at the way Lance smiled with his whole face. He didn't look away this time, just kept talking with him, allowing himself to be happy and actually dwell in the feelings he had for his team mate.

This crush of his was getting out of hand but he couldn't deny how everything felt perfect when Lance was smiling. And he just wanted to feel perfect for a while.

After a while of playing with yuppers and galra kittens, the trio left and found Coran and Allura.

"Keith, we could use your help with the deco- with the supplies. We aren't exactly sure what balloons are." Allura was holding a box of what looked like pufferfish on string and seemed very upset. Keith groaned and pushed her and Coran off to another shop, throwing an apologetic look over his shoulder to Shiro and Lance.

"Sorry guys, I'll catch up with you later."

Lance looked sad to see him go and Shiro patted his shoulder. "Let's go get some clothes, we can't be wearing the same two outfits every day."

Keith took Allura and Coran to some stores, trying to help them find decorations while explaining what balloons were for the tenth time.

"Wouldn't he rather prefer your breath in a plastic sack? I don't think he'd like mine as much."

Keith groaned at Allura's confusion.

"No, it's not the breath that's important, that's just what makes the balloons inflate."

"But what do they do?"

"They don't do anything they just float. They're for looking pretty."

"Oh, well that's just ridiculous. Flowers are much nicer."

Keith decided to just ditch the effort of explaining the concept to them and shop instead.

Meanwhile, Shiro threw another shirt over the dressing room door for Lance to try on.

"Um, I think this one has three arm holes."

Shiro took it back and gave him a different one.

"Oh, sorry, how about this one."

Lance came out, wearing the blue t-shirt he'd picked out. He stood in front of the mirror and smoothed out the fabric over his chest.

"I like it. It's really soft and I think this pocket is for food, look it has a spork in there."

Shiro laughed and took it to add to the growing pile of clothes, as Lance put his old shirt back on. They'd picked out some for everyone. Pidge got overalls and some shorts, Hunk got T-shirts, and Shiro got some shirts for himself as well as pyjamas and some new clothes for Keith.

"I swear, that kid has had that same black t-shirt forever. And he tore the bottom during the last mission. He could do with some new ones."

Lance grabbed a basket and threw everything in, tensing as calm fingers fixed the collar of his jacket, before they moved to his head to ruffle his hair.

Shiro was laughing and Lance smiled a little.

"Keith was right, you could do with a haircut, it's getting a little long." He patted the younger boy on the shoulder as his tone turned more serious.

"And hey, I'm proud of you. You've been getting along with Keith lately and I'm glad to see you two becoming friends. You've grown up a lot even in the short time I've known you."

Lance looked up at him, that proud smile and kind eyes. His dad used to smile like that. He and his dad always got along well, and he remembered wanting to be just like him when he was little. His dad was the one that got him interested in being a pilot.

Then he grew up a bit and Shiro had become his hero, with all the same qualities as his dad. The sincerity and kindness, the way he was so protective of them all and always patient with his shenanigans.

He looked down at the floor as they walked to the checkout. Shiro noticed his smile drop and paused, taking the boys arm.

"Hey, what's wrong? People don't usually look so sad after being given a compliment."

Lance shrugged, feeling stupid.

"Nothing you just…remind me of my dad."

Shiro softened and nodded.

"I'm sorry you had to leave earth without saying goodbye to them. I'll do everything I can to get you and everyone else back home safely as soon as I can."

Lance nodded, sniffing a little. Shiro's heart flooded with empathy and he straightened his shoulders, feeling so suddenly protective of the young paladin that had become so much like family to them all. He gently squeezed his arm, trying to meet Lance's eyes from where they were staring intently at the floor.

"Lance, we're a team now and we all care about you. Everyone is missing somebody. So, if you ever need anything you can tell us. And if you ever need to talk or just want a hug, I'm right here."

Lance's face crumpled and he threw himself into Shiro's arms, pressing his face to the older man's chest as they wrapped their arms around each other. Lance missed his family so much and he was so constantly overwhelmed by everything going on, that it was nice to have someone to guide you in the right direction. Shiro had always been Lance's hero but now that they were friends, family even, the support he got from him meant more than he could say.

He sniffled, voice wobbly, making him sound much younger.

"Thanks, Shiro."

Shiro patted his back and smiled.

"No problem, buddy. How about we get these and then go find the others huh?"

Lance let go and nodded, trying to wipe his eyes without Shiro noticing.

By the time, they'd found everyone, they all had bags full of various items and no one had very good excuses as to why Lance wasn't allowed to see them but it didn't matter, it had been a good day.


End file.
